The Municipality of Rotterdam is currently conducting in-depth research into the city's cultural and creative ecosystem together with Djamila Boulil, a PhD candidate from EUR and RUG. The upcoming phase of data collection will focus on freelancers and makers, particularly practices that are less visible within formal structures.
The perspective of Rotterdam artists active as freelancers within this field is valuable for the research. With your participation, you not only help to gain a better understanding of the position and needs of freelancers in the cultural sector, but you also contribute to insights that can help improve the situation for makers and self-employed professionals in Rotterdam.
What does participation entail?
A group discussion of up to 2 hours with 8–10 makers from a similar discipline/field, facilitated by researcher Djamila Boulil. The focus of the discussion is on your collaborations and experiences in the field.
Practical
The interviews take place between April 1 and June 15, depending on the discipline and the area in which you work.
compensation
As thanks for your time, you will receive compensation of €120.
Voluntary and confidential
Participation is entirely voluntary. You decide for yourself what you do or do not want to share. The conversations are processed anonymously by the research team. A comprehensive consent form is included in the attachment. You can read this in advance, but you will also be provided with it during the digital invitation to participate and printed during the conversation.
Interest
If you are interested, we would like to ask you to complete the following questionnaire so that we can properly place you: https://forms.gle/JwmxV1aXwwLpaFtf6
Image: Djamila Boulil, PhD candidate from EUR and RUG
Attachment: Consent Form
The Municipality of Rotterdam is conducting research into cultural and creative ecosystems. This research is led by Arianne van der Waal, on behalf of the Municipality of Rotterdam, and Djamila Boulil, on behalf of the University of Groningen and Erasmus University Rotterdam. The aim of this research is to provide the municipality with a clear picture of who works in Rotterdam's cultural and creative sector. In addition, this data is used for scientific research. It forms the basis of Djamila Boulil's doctoral trajectory and her academic career. You will participate in the sub-study concerning the behavior of cultural and creative freelancers within the ecosystem.
What are the goals of this research?
This specific series of focus groups is used to create simulations of self-employed professionals in Rotterdam's cultural and creative sector. In addition, the discussions provide input for establishing the preconditions of the ecosystem.
What is expected of you?
During this study, we ask you to participate in a focus group together with other actors with similar characteristics. The questions concern your initiative or business and its professional contacts. We are particularly interested in how you establish contacts and with what types of organizations. This information allows us to create a simulation of actors like you. Therefore, it is not about you as a person, and unless you indicate otherwise, data specifically regarding your company will not be used for the study. The focus group will last a maximum of two hours, but this depends on the length of your answers and the answers of the other participants. You only need to share what you wish and may stop at any time.
Are there any risks?
It is important to know that we do not look at you as a (private) person, but only at your organization or company and information about your professional relationships. Furthermore, all information you share in the focus group is anonymized. Finally, it is important to understand that with simulations we do not create a digital copy of you (or your company), but rather combine the information from all members of the focus group into the average (opportunity) creator/initiator.
How do we handle your data?
We make an audio recording of the conversation to create transcripts. The focus group transcripts are stored anonymously on a secure server at the University of Groningen for 10 years. The audio recordings are destroyed immediately after the transcripts have been made.
The simulated actors are added to a mapping of the cultural and creative ecosystem, which currently consists of (real) other organizations and enterprises (such as the organizations in the 2025 Culture Plan). This database is also stored on a secure server at the University of Groningen for 10 years. Over the coming years, this database will be used by Djamila Boulil to conduct analyses regarding the form of the cultural and creative ecosystem and the position of various actors within it. We will also continue to use this information throughout this entire period for educational and research purposes at both the University of Groningen and Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). A copy of this database will be transferred to the Municipality of Rotterdam at the end of the research (end of 2029). They will also store the information on a secure server for 10 years. If possible, this database will then be made accessible to you and all other actors in the ecosystem.
Do I have to participate in this study?
Participation in this study is voluntary. If you decide not to participate, you do not need to explain why, and this will have no negative consequences for you. You also have the right to have your data removed from the study after the focus group. This right applies until the moment the data is anonymized, because after that we will no longer know which data belongs to you. This will be in June 2026 (at the latest).
What else do you need to know?
Please do let us know if you have any questions or comments about this study. You can ask your questions now, during, or after the study. You can do this by sending an email to the research team at dz.boulil@rotterdam.nl
Do you have questions or concerns about your rights as a participant or about the conduct of the research team? Please contact the Research Ethics Review Committee (CETO) of the Faculty of Arts and Philosophy at the University of Groningen: ceto@rug.nl
Do you have questions or concerns about how your personal data is handled? You can also contact the Data Protection Officer of the University of Groningen about this: privacy@rug.nl.